The Syrian leader Bashar Assad declared in an interview on Wednesday that the nuclear deal with Iran will strengthen his regime. In his attempt to hold on to power, the Assad regime has indiscriminately bombed its own people, using barrel bombs as well as chemical weapons during a civil war that has claimed the lives of more than 240,000 people. Assad argued that “the power of Iran is the power of Syria, and a victory for Syria is a victory for Iran.” He described Russia and Iran as steadfast allies, while asserting that “the United States abandons its allies, abandons its friends.” Iran provides Syria with $6 billion per year and has sent Hezbollah forces and IRGC personnel to Syria to bolster the Assad regime’s battle against the rebels. While Hezbollah’s finances have suffered and Assad’s current position is more precarious, a new influx of cash from a newly enriched Iran could boost the Syrian regime’s position. Washington Institute Fellow Andrew Tabler argues that the Iran deal would “dramatically improve the prospects for the Assad regime's survival."

Iran has been covertly recruiting Shia Afghan refugees to fight for Assad. Phillip Smyth, an expert on Shiite militant groups, estimates that there are 2,000 to 3,500 Afghans currently fighting for Assad in Syria who “have suffered the fate of being used as cannon fodder.” Smyth explained that while some are coerced into fighting in Syria, others are persuaded by the promise of Iranian residency papers and a better salary. Michael Eisenstadt, Director of the Military and Security Studies Program at the Washington Institute, pointed out that Iran prefers using Arab proxies to do its bidding and suggested, “A fresh infusion of cash might therefore enable it [Iran] to expand recruitment of proxies in the region, including Afghani and Pakistani Shiites.”

Despite claims that the deal with Iran is solely about Iran’s nuclear program, the agreement appears to be part of a broader attempt at rapprochement with Iran. President Barack Obama has stated that Iran could be a “very successful regional power” and Secretary of State John Kerry has indicated a desire to engage with Tehran on regional issues. Whereas previously the US refused to let the regime participate in peace talks to promote a political transition in Syria, President Obama now asserts that it is important for Iran to be a part of them.

Iran’s presence in Afghanistan, which is growing alongside that of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), “promotes chaos and radicalism” within the country and harms “forces of moderation and order,” Kyle Orton argued in an analysis published today at National Review Online.While Iran has claimed that it has increased its funding to the Taliban in order to fight ISIS, Orton observed that this claim is dubious because the record “shows consistent Iranian support for anti-Western Sunni jihadist forces in Afghanistan from the beginning of the Western intervention in 2001.”

Iranian financial support to the Taliban has been constant since 2001, and Iran’s military support began before the invasion, continued during the invasion, when Iran offered anti-aircraft weapons to the Taliban to “use against the United States and Coalition forces,” and has been increasing since at least early 2007. A congressional report from October 2014 noted that Iran’s “lethal assistance, including light weapons,” to the Taliban was ongoing.

Iran “formalized its alliance with the Taliban by allowing the group to open an office in Mashhad” at the beginning of 2014, the Wall Street Journal recently reported. Iran has been “training Taliban fighters within its borders” at four terrorism camps.

Even though Afghanistan is a Sunni majority country, Iran has a presence in its northern and western regions where Hazara Shiites lives. Iran has been recruiting Hazara Shiites to fight in Syria and defend the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Back in June, The Wall Street Journalreported on Iran’s expanded financial and military support of the Taliban. As Orton noted, the Taliban is not the only Sunni jihadist group supported by Iran, which also backs al-Qaeda. In May, Michael Pregent produced a map of Iraq showing that Tehran, despite its claims to the contrary, was not working to defeat ISIS. Pregent observed that Iran sees ISIS presence in Iraq and Syria as a means to justify its own activities there, and to assert “that their allies in both countries are the only thing preventing a jihadist takeover.” (via The Tower.org)

Similarities between leukemia and HIV recently discovered in an Israeli lab might provide important clues in the search for a clinical solution to prevent and destroy the human immunodeficiency virus, which can lead to the chronic and fatal condition AIDS. Microbiology and immunology researchers in the lab of Prof. Ran Taube at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) say their discovery is a significant breakthrough. “Until now, medical researchers had very limited information on the existence of a connection between AIDS, caused by the HIV virus, and a rare blood cancer, known as mixed lineage leukemia (MLL),” explained Taube. “MLL, found mostly in children, hinders blood-system cell development.” In MLL, there is damage to the reproduction mechanisms that normally control the expression of the genes responsible for manufacturing stem cells in the bone marrow. Taube said something similar happens with the HIV virus when it enters a chronic state. “This research is based on the assumption that damage to the mechanisms of expression and reproduction of the viral genome is responsible for the accumulation of the latent HIV virus and leads to the chronic disease condition,” said Taube, whose lab focuses on understanding viral-host interactions that promote human diseases. They are now seeking innovative ways to “wake up” HIV from its silent state, while at the same time applying anti-retroviral medications to eradicate the virus completely. (via Israel21c)